Investing.com - Gold futures edged lower on Tuesday, as expectations for a U.S. rate hike in the coming months continued to weigh on the precious metal.
Gold for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange inched down $5.40, or 0.48%, to trade at $1,126.30 a troy ounce during European morning hours.
A day earlier, gold retreated $13.90, or 1.21%, after New York Federal Reserve Bank President William Dudley said that the Fed remains on track for a rate hike this year and could move as soon as the upcoming meeting in October.
The comments came after Fed Chair Janet Yellen said last Thursday that the U.S. central bank was likely to raise interest rates in 2015.
Most economists believe the Fed will begin raising rates in December after holding policy steady earlier this month due to concerns over soft inflation and the effects of recent market volatility on the U.S. economy.
Gold fell to a five-and-a-half year low of $1,072.30 on July 24 amid speculation the Fed will raise interest rates for the first time since 2006 at some point this year.
The timing of a Fed rate hike has been a constant source of debate in the markets in recent months.
Elsewhere in metals trading, copper for December delivery on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange sank to an intraday low of $2.225 a pound, a level not seen since July 2009, before trading at $2.240 during morning hours in London, down 1.1 cents, or 0.49%.
On Monday, copper tumbled 3.2 cents, or 1.4%, after data showed profits earned by Chinese industrial companies in August fell 8.8% from a year earlier.
The gloomy data underlined concerns over the health of the world's second largest economy, adding to fears over slackening demand for the industrial metal.
Copper prices have been under heavy selling pressure in recent weeks as fears of a China-led global economic slowdown spooked traders and rattled sentiment.
The Asian nation is the world’s largest copper consumer, accounting for almost 40% of world consumption last year.